Earlier this month I was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of NSW. It was a nice occasion – my parents flew down from Queensland, there was all the pomp and ceremony one would expect, and the ceremony itself was conducted in the Banco Court by the Chief Justice of NSW.

I’m a lawyer!

A few of the reasons I haven’t posted in a while are that I’ve been ridiculously busy at work, and since my admission I’ve been contemplating my future.

What am I going to do now that I’ve been admitted? The short answer, at least for the time being, is “not much.” I am just about to reach 9 years of service with my current employer. If I quit now I do not receive any long service leave. If I stay until I reach 10 years of service I become entitled to 2 months paid leave.

Whilst I am eager to begin my legal career, I would be stupid to quit now instead of working a further 12 months and receiving 2 months paid leave. The long service leave may also allow me to fulfil a dream of mine to cycle around Australia raising money for charity and talking to children and young people about the benefits of regular exercise and a healthy diet.

So that’s where I’m at – I will keep working with my current employer for the time being, complete the Master of Laws, receive my long service leave and then see where the road takes me.

Another factor that I have taken into consideration is that job prospects for law gradates at the moment are not particularly good. There seems to be a significant oversupply of law graduates. This recent submission by the Law Society of South Australia provides a good overview of the problems facing new lawyers. For an in-depth discussion from the perspective of students/graduates see these three Whirlpool forum posts – Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone – may 2014 be full of love, joy and happiness for you all! 🙂